a) Field
The present concept deals generally with bedding and coverings for newborn and infant children. For the most part, infants are swaddled using blankets and/or slings of some sort which enable the parents to carry the infant and provide a certain measure of security for the infant; the swaddling blankets mimic the close confines of the womb which the infant has just previously left. The swaddling blankets provide warmth, a sense of security to the infant, and a measure of control, keeping the infant from spontaneously flipping over from a back position to a front position or onto the infant's stomach. Further, there are many reasons to control the position of the infant including prevention of sudden infant death syndrome, quieting the effects of an infant who has colic by keeping the child in an inclined position so that stomach acids stay in the base of the stomach and do not enter into the lower esophagus region, as well as keeping a clear line of sight between the infant and the parent. The following prior art generally discloses toddler or infant bed coverings and/or pouches and the like which either enable the parents to control the infant's position for sleeping at night or provide a transportation carrier of some sort for the child.
b) Background
U.S. Pat. No. 1,403,873 (Scott) discloses a bed covering, and referring to Col. 1 at line 9, relates particularly to bed coverings for infants or toddlers and provides for tucking in of the infant without danger of the infant subsequently being uncovered by movements during sleep. The blanket is constructed of material like woolen blankets, cotton sheeting, flannel or cotton flannel as circumstances may require.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,964,271 (O'Dwyer) discloses a sleeping bag for as referred to Col. 1 at line 14, small infants to prevent the infant from rolling out while sleeping. Further down at the line 40, the bag has an anchoring sheet with fabric straps which can be extended around the underside of the mattress and fastened together to secure the sleeping bag to the mattress. A bag is cut to fit the length and width of the child, with the interior allowing the arms and legs to be extended by the child.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,451,807 (Catizone) discloses an infant's garment where the garment is combined with a sheet covering a mattress. This patent has two main components, the first is a sheet and the second is a jacket, which form the infant garment. The jacket is long enough to cover the infant's waistline, and is connected to the sheet. The sheet is large enough to encompass the entire jacket. The sheet is also large enough to be tucked underneath the mattress or crib bed. The jacket also has neck openings and arm openings, a collar opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,702,385 (Goldberg) discloses a baby blanket garment and has a baby blanket which is the top portion of the garment and can be secured to the corners of the crib, the blanket has two arm holes which are slit into the top portion of the blanket. On the back is a baby receiving bag to hold the baby. The baby receiving bag is fastened to the back face of the top blanket and has a zipper which runs around the edge of the baby receiving bag allowing the user to open and close the bag to insert or remove the child.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,744 (Krarup) discloses a sheet sleeping bag which has openings for accommodating the neck, head and arms and keeps the person from leaving the bed and throwing the sheets off during sleeping. The base of this sheet sleeping bag is the draw sheet, referred to Col. 2 at line 40, where a single triangular piece of fabric is stitched to the draw piece in a perpendicular relationship, the other edge of the triangular piece of fabric is stitched to the centerline of the back of the sleeping bag also in a perpendicular fashion. The triangular piece of fabric allows the person, or child in this case, to have full freedom of movement to turn on to his or her side, stomach or back but preventing the person from standing or rising. The triangular piece of fabric can be inverted and sewn the other direction allowing the person to sit up but still be prevented from standing out of bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,513 (Hubner) discloses a safety sleeping bag for infants and babies. It is a zipper opening blanket of resilient material having a bodice like upper portion, and a bag lower portion, secured to a crib mattress by a back portion sewn jointly with soft absorbent filler and a retainer for a disposable diaper connected to a stretchable bed linen sheet with a tension band to encircle the mattress. Further, referring to Col. 3 at line 32, the bodice like upper portion has an armhole on each side and a square neck. A zipper is attached to the front of the bag and extends from square neck to the base area of the bag. The slide of the zipper has a closed position at the base area of the sleeping bag so that the child cannot reach it. The edges of the arm holes are covered with stretchable terrycloth material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,524 (Hummel) discloses a baby cover which is rectangular in configuration and is designed to be placed on a mattress. The baby cover has bands which allow the cover to be secured to the mattress or the crib. A jacket is provided to receive the upper portion of the baby. The jacket has a collar, arm openings, and a zipper. A continuous slit extends from the cover section up into the jacket and is closed by the zipper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,300 (Miller) discloses a pouch zipper blanket and method of constructing and utilizing the same, the zipper blanket has an outer blanket and a pouch member where the pouch is connected to the inside face of the blanket. The pouch is sewn to the blanket around its peripheral edges except for the top edge which is left open. The pouch has a full-length slit with a zipper to open and close the pouch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,052 (Bilanzich) discloses an extendable infant sheet and sleeper where the sheet is designed to keep the infant in the middle of the bed or crib. The sheet has a central pleat which extends along the entire length and is sewed onto the main sheet. The sleeper jacket is attached to the opening across the central pleat to form an integral sleeper unit. The extendable pleat between fixed ends permits the safe movement of the infant without binding the sheet and causing discomfort.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,885 (Lunt) discloses a one-piece infant bunting, where the bunting is formed from a single blanket of multiple layer of fabric material and where the perforation of the blanket is ultrasonically welded to create a continuous hem. The blanket is essentially configured to wrap around the child and have a rectangular main section with a lower extension for forming a closure and an upper extension for forming a folded hood over the head of the infant. The sides of the blanket are foldable and overlap the infant's body. Velcro fasteners are provided to close the blanket and keep it in position around the infant.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,164 (Hearns) discloses a baby blanket assembly which has a bottom blanket or support portion, a top blanket or a cover portion and the top blanket can be attached to the bottom blanket to form a baby containment pouch. Attached to the pouch is a pacifier and a burping cloth, also a breathing sensor and a sound device or motion sensor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,048 (LaRosa) discloses an infant sleeping pouch where the pouch restrains the movement of the child in a crib therefore reducing the risk of accidental injury or death of the child do to for example Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The device allows the infant to lie on its back and roll from side to side. The child sits in a pouch and the pouch is then restrained on the mattress. Referring to Col. 3 at line 25, the pouch has a zipper that allows it to be opened so the child can be placed into it. At the top of the pouch there are two flaps having Velcro pads on them so that they can attach to one another. The bottom area of the pouch is large for the child to kick within the pouch and also has shoulder straps and a chest region which are adjustable. The pouch is then connected to a Velcro pad which restraints the child from moving on the mattress. The Velcro pad is secured to the mattress by sewing the connecting pad to the mattress cover itself. The mattress cover is then wrapped around the mattress and or tied to the crib.
US D 422,775 (Hurr) discloses a baby blanket which essentially has what appears to be a pouch section where the baby can fit into the blanket. The baby blanket is configured in a diamond shape with a top triangular cover on the lower portion of the diamond and the top cover connected to the lower diamond portion along the edges of the blanket periphery. The baby can fit into the pouch which is formed from the top cover and bottom cover. US D 501,350 (Kelly) discloses a design for a baby blanket which is configured in a diamond shape and has a small pouch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,528 and US 2003/0154548 discloses a crib safety sheet/blanket which has a fitted sheet with the front surface and a back surface and has two ends to snugly fit the sheet to the mattress. A blanket is sewn along the middle of the fitted sheet and has two blanket halves. The blanket halves are connected together by hook loop and fastening materials such as Velcro, so that the infant can be wrapped by the two halves of the blanket into a supine position. A number of elastic straps can be extended across the bottom of the fitted sheet to be removed or secured to the side of the sheet within the meeting strips of the hook and loop fastening material to contain the sheet on the mattress.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,422 and US 2003/0154549 discloses a crib safety sheet blanket with a series of baby sheet sleeping restraining devices including:
First, as seen in paragraph 45, a cloth sac or case which essentially resembles a large pillowcase which will fit over the top end of a bassinet pad or small mattress. The blanket folding portion is sewn on the top surface of the sac.
Second, as seen in FIG. 7 and referring to paragraph 46, a rectangular sheet. A fastening device such as a hook and loop material can also be used to place the hook and loop material. The sheet can then be wrapped around the mattress and secured by the Velcro tight material or a fitted aperture or threaded aperture type of connection. Also, as seen in FIG. 8, the sheet can be connected to a full-size adult mattress where the snap fasteners are anchored to the rails of the bed frame to keep the base sheet in position.
Third, a rectangular sheet which has several straps attached to each end of the sheet and can be wrapped around the mattress or crib and connected using either a hook and loop material or the snap fasteners.
US 2004/0199999 published Oct. 14, 2004 discloses a crib safety sheet with a blanket which is removable from the sheet portion for on moving the child from one surface to another which may have the sheet material to interface with the blanket wrap. Referring to paragraph 53 of the publication, a safety sheet is shown with a detachable blanket. The bottom blanket has a mating fastener to engage the corresponding second portion of the mating fastener connected to the blanket wrap element.
None of the prior art taken either singly or in combination is seen to describe the instant concept as discussed below.